Someone in the comments yesterday wanted to get my take on the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, a topic I’ve deliberately avoided. It cannot be denied he’s had a bad week, perception-wise, at least. Trying to assess the damage immediately — amid a climate of cable-news hysteria — is difficult. Remember, I’m that guy who thought the Access Hollywood tapes spelled certain doom for Trump a month before his 2016 election. We are now less than four months away from the mid-term election, which will be the crucial test of the success of Trumpism. Right now I’d say the odds are 60-40 the Democrats take back the House.

The important thing to remember is that a couple of bad news cycles this early in an election year never make or break a campaign. In the age of instant information via cable news and social media, there’s a temptation to panic over every new development. But it is foolish to believe that one bad week in July — and, to be honest, this past week has been very bad — is going to make a difference in November.

If Team Trump can get its act together, they can shake this off and keep moving forward with an emphasis on the economic good news. If the guys at the RNC are smart — notice the word “if” there — they’ll target the key districts with upbeat ads focused on a positive message about how Trump is keeping his promises, cutting taxes, adding a record number of jobs, restoring American pride, rounding up illegal aliens, etc. No matter what the liberal media says about Trump, people are feeling pretty good about the economy, and that ought to be a major selling point in the final stretch after Labor Day, when ordinary people really start paying attention. Right now, in mid-July, the poll numbers aren’t encouraging for Republicans, but that doesn’t mean they can’t turn it around.